MacIntyre falls short as Dustin shows mettle
ROBERT MacIntyre was denied a statement success on American soil after world No 1 Dustin Johnson earned a share of the spoils with a late comeback at the WGC Match Play in Texas.
The Scot looked to be heading for victory after going two holes up with three to play but Johnson closed the door ruthlessly with an eagle on the 16th to ensure the pair remain tied at the top of Group 1.
The point earned by MacIntyre, following an opening-day win over Kevin Na, means he can still advance to the knockout stage should he see off America’s Adam Long and Johnson fails to beat Na.
Big-hitting Johnson held a slender one-hole advantage until MacIntyre turned on the style around the turn, winning three holes in a row from the ninth, the highlight coming with a 22ft putt on the 10th to remind the American he had a game on his hands.
After giving a hole back on the par-five 12th, MacIntyre exchanged pars on the 13th before momentum swung in the Oban man’s favour on the parfour 14th courtesy of another lengthy birdie putt.
The pressure began to show as MacIntyre found a fairway bunker on 15 but he hit a superb second shot to the green and his subsequent par meant Johnson had to pull out something special to turn the tie around.
And the American did just that by leaving himself ten foot for eagle on the par-five 16th, then following up with a 17-foot birdie on the par-three 17th to tie the contest.
The pair traded pars on the 18th and MacIntyre at least won a host of new admirers watching his progress Stateside.
The most fascinating encounter today will see Tommy Fleetwood take on monster hitter Bryson DeChambeau for a place in the last 16.
If it was a boxing contest it would be billed as the Southport Stylist against the Modesto Monster. There again, given the four stones in weight disparity and the eight or nineinch difference around the waist, it could never happen in boxing.
In golf, however, Fleetwood will have high hopes of punching his weight and more against DeChambeau.
Form may suggest a straightforward victory for the man hailing from that small Californian town who’s anything but modest. But we’re always told form gets lobbed out of the window when it comes to match play, so Fleetwood will fancy his chances of extending DeChambeau’s curiously poor record as a pro in this format. Given how much he’s messing with the heads of some of his rivals these days, it’s fascinating to discover that when it comes to head-to-head, the US Open champion has played ten matches in various match play events and won precisely two. That even includes his victory yesterday against the Korean Si Woo Kim. Fleetwood took care of Antoine Ruzner from France, who played as if he was still mentally dining out on his victory over DeChambeau the previous day. It’s been a quiet start to the season for Fleetwood but what an opportunity he has today to change all that.
‘Bryson has been smashing it literally and figuratively for the past nine months so it’s going to be an exciting match, for sure,’ said the Englishman. ‘I played him in a foursomes match in the last Ryder Cup (he and Frankie Molinari beat Bryson and Tiger Woods) but he’s come on leaps and bounds since then.’
Matt Fitzpatrick gave himself a chance of making it through to the last 16 with a comprehensive win over Canadian Corey Connors. The Englishman was also given a helping hand in his quest to win his group courtesy of an extraordinary collapse by course specialist Jordan Spieth, who went to college in Austin. Two up with two to play, Spieth gifted both closing holes to his opponent Matt Wolff for a tied match worth half-a-point each.
It means that Fitzpatrick, who lost to Spieth on the opening day, now needs to beat Wolff today and hope the Texan slips up against Connors.
After losing to Matt Kuchar on Wednesday, Justin Thomas, recent winner of the Players Championship, was rudely brought down to earth once more, this time by defending champion Kevin Kisner. It means that one of the Masters favourites and the number two seed will be playing for pride against Louis Ooosthuizen today in his last competitive outing before Augusta.